HiFiMAN HM-801 Portable Player / DAC Review: Part One of Two - Page 18

I'm a minimalist as well. What I would like to put the money for are the sonic quality and the interface. Also I expect this outperform the H140/D10 by a noticeable margin rather than subtly. Otherwise I would go for the H140/D10 combo.

Anyone want to PM jude and ask how long this so thing of his is?

Sachu,

I'm not familiar with CDPs. Can you indicate the price range of the Meridian CD player. Or, it would be even better if you could compare it with any portable DAC devices like Pico-- the best portable DAC I'm told.

The comparison of the amp vs other portable amps would be great.

Regards,
GreenLeo

Hey, I find two more impression of the HiFiMan in the CanJam 09 impression thread. One from Edwood in page 23 and the other from Iron_Dreamer in page 23. Both of them talked about the DAC as well.

well while I like the sound of an anodized coating and 'gorilla glass' I think you would find that such things would cost far more to implement/include than a simple inline LCD remote. I think you would be in the minority of those that use irivers with any kind of serious outboard dac/amp. IMO it is one of the most valuable features of the IHP1xx range and I would certainly take it over a finish. afterall I use a iskin on mine and its still mint without your coating. the coating does nothing for the usability of the thing, sounds like one of those extras that I would rather not pay for if it meant no remote

there are only reports of the dac as both units were damaged in transit and were therefor not fully functional. FWIR they had to cobble together the units so the dacs would be able to be demonstrated. what a shame and how disappointing/frustrating that must've been for fang. I look forward to hearing more about this unit, even if I do think the modular thing may not be taken up as a niche of a niche means such low numbers it may disway people like ray etc. of course I would be happy to be wrong in this case.

qusp, with respect, you seem to miss the intended point. I expressed the wish that the total cost of those cases, where supplied with DAP devices, be instead directed into providing a hard scratch resistant finish to both casing and screen.

In other words, there is no additional cost, rather a redirection of the budget and one which may even result in a reduction in cost depending on scale.

The reason for a case is the same as that for a durable finish, namely to protect the surface from wear and tear during normal usage.

The fact that you bought an iskin bears out my point to keep the cost down by not including cases, we get our own if we want them. As regards the HM-801, if there is no budget for cases then clearly the cost of a durable finish is an extra one. Only Nankai can answer the question as to how durable the finish is intended to be

The desire for an LCD Remote is a totally separate issue and the two are not related. Again, only Nankai can answer the question as to whether one will be available.

I may well be in the minority but I have little choice given that, with my Sys.Concept digital interconnect, it is impossible to access the IRiver Remote socket.

I have ordered the latest Sys. Concept interconnect which is much less restrictive. If it permits the LCD Remote connection then I shall be curious to see how much I actually use it.

I suspect not much but I can see an occasional use. Guess I shall stay in the minority. Though, interestingly, the Remote with my second hand iRiver is in pristine never-used condition.

I got to check out the HM-801 at CanJam this weekend. Was great to meet Fang and his wife.

I prepared ahead of time and loaded up a spare 16GB SDHC card I had with FLAC files. And had those same files on my portable PC playing Foobar.

I'll repost my initial impressions I posted before here:

Without a doubt the most hotly anticipated Digital Audio Player was the HiFiMan HM-801. I was surprised at how lightweight it was in person. I was expecting a pretty heavy brick, given the sheer amount of goodies crammed inside. There was unfortunate shipping mishap that caused damage to both prototypes, but fortunately, different parts were broken in each one, so overall, there was two halfway functional HifiMan HM-801's. I got to hear one with it's USB input as a DAC hooked up to my portable computer using Foobar. I also used the built in player with FLAC files loaded up on an SDHC card. And, yes you can browse folders. The overall UI will be familiar feeling to anyone used to Rockbox. Overall, the sound quality was not a let down. I'll reserve final judgement until I get a chance to hear the final product, but it's off to a fantastic start. Is up to quality of my Pico DAC I had there to compare to, if not even better in some regards.

The HM-801's hardware will be done towards the end of June, with the software possibly being finished then, or a bit later. One thing I talked to Fang at Head-Direct about was the possibility of having other Amp builders making their version for the modular Amp bay. Imagine having a HeadAmp, Ray Samuels Audio, or other Amp built into the HiFiMan HM-801? Now that would be THE ONE portable I would carry. Period!

I use the wired remote control with my iRiver iHP-120 (132) as well.

I'd love to see a wired (or wireless, if possible) remote control option available in the future as well. That way, I can stuff the HM-801 in my cargo pants pocket, bag, etc. and have the remote out and about for easy access.

-Ed

IMHO all these wish lists are pointless.

As I see it, this is a labour of love by Nankai and the implementation of his personal vision.

In other words it is his vision and not ours, I fully respect and accept that and I look forward to supporting his venture.

Nankai (Fang) has been very receptive of wish lists within reason. It never hurts to ask. It's called feedback. If it can't be done in a current version and there is enough demand, perhaps it can be done in the future.

-Ed

I am interested in this product. Yes mixed feelings about the 32 gb limit but I live with it. I don't mind the short battery live if that means a decent headphone amp. I hope it will drive a ER4S or maybe even a Sennheiser 800??

I read about gaps between tracks. Will this be changed now or in the future? This is a must as I have a large collection of my own recordings which are tracked but need to play with no gaps. This would be a deal killer.

I do appreciate an EQ, even though I am an audiphile! Also secondarely the ability to flip channels.

Separate channel control (balance) I am also one with imperfect ears but also sometimes my recoridngs are not perfectly balanced.

I do like playing with my sound but at the same time being a classical musician do appreciate good sounding equipment. So please if some "processing" can be implemented in software please I will appreciate it.

The 32GB limit is Sandisk's fault. Their limitation on the SDHC spec. Otherwise, you'll be hard pressed to find solid state players with more than 32GB of storage built in. You can always buy more 32GB SDHC cards, which can be had for $80-100.

Fang said he's working on gapless, it may or may not be possible, but he seems optimistic. Apparently the HM-801 has 2GB of internal memory for it's firmware, so it has a lot of room for upgrades.

-Ed

I took it that you were talking about the remote as you didnt specify. a durable finish will never be as good as a case. no matter how durable a finish is, it will still show signs of wear if used regularly. with an iskin (which only costs less than $10) the unit remains pristine.

and my point was I would rather have a remote

yes, but it wont work as well, even your wording 'scratch RESISTANT' tells all; not scratch proof; which would be prohibitively expensive I would think.

to include a case would only cost a couple of dollars in decent numbers. this new finish would require more than that; as well as an additional prototyping phase as there would have to be more than one tested to find the most useful. and for each there would have to be a new shell produced each time; much less than creating a couple of versions of case. I myself like the silicone type one piece skins and all that would be needed is a pattern to work of and a desired thickness; much less expensive to develop I would imagine.

how is it a separate issue?? its all cost and a mater of where the money is channeled

so yyou use the right angle sysconcept cable hey?? I have both version and I almost never use the right angle one because of this. in fact I just made that 'cable' that was posted in the D10 thread; the one where you cut each RA adapter in half and glue them together to make a short one piece 'cable' works great. before you buy the new one, maybe think about attacking the old one and making that.

see above, I think you'll find it very useful as the remote is much lighter and can be clipped to a lapel or pocket with ease. its full function too; you can do anything you can with the joystick.

I cant see it being of much use to anyone who doesnt use an external dac/amp; which adds to the bulk; so it doesnt surprise me that yours was in such good condition as likely the previous owner didnt use such things; people like us are in the extreme minority amongst even iriver users.

I always end up learning how to navigate my MP3 players from my pocket without taking them out. It takes a wee bit of work but eventually you figure it out and never have to take it out of your pocket.